London 2012 blog

Chairing yesterday evening's proceedings at the annual Pierre de Coubertin lecture held was hugely exciting for me as my role as Chair of the Culture, Ceremonies and Education team is all about delivering Pierre de Coubertin's vision of marrying sport and culture for the 2012 Games.

The lecture was held in conjunction with the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and the British Olympic Foundation.

Dr. Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee, gave the keynote speech - 'Advancing the Games: the IOC, London 2012 and the future of de Coubertin's Olympic Movement'. He shared with the audience his understanding of Pierre de Coubertin as an educator who drew strongly on his experiences here in the United Kingdom to evolve his vision for to create an international movement that combined sport and education. A movement that positioned sport as a model for peace and harmony; that upheld a set of values which extend well beyond the playing field.

We have an opportunity as the Games have come home to help carry his movement forward and further deliver on his vision.

The highlights of the evening for me were meeting Antoine de Navacelle, Pierre de Coubertin's great grand nephew and some of the Team GB competitors in the 1948 Olympic Games. Their stories are inspiring and it was an honour for London 2012 to host them and their families.

It fascinating that the UK last hosted in the Games in 1948 at extremely difficult time as the world grappled with the aftermath of WWII, and now we are working to stage them as the world head into tough economic times. What I am sure of is that we will rise to the occasion and deliver fantastic events that the nation will be proud of.

The project can even help us through challenging times - Seb Coe put it perfectly last night while taking questions from the audiences with Dame Kelly Holmes, the BBC's Mark Byford and Jacques Rogge.

He said: 'More than 3,500 people are on the [Games] building site currently, of which 10% had been permanently unemployed. The work safeguards these jobs in an economic downturn.

'Billions of pounds of contracts are available, so this is a very good project to be having at the moment.

'No one would have chosen this [downturn], but the Games could account for 6-7% of economic activity in this city over the next five years, not to mention the impact it could have on other parts of the country.

'That's why we should be on the front foot - in good times or in bad this is a project that really has an extraordinary impact.'

Read Jacques Rogge's speech (PDF, 105kB)